Oblivion (novel)
| number = 4 | author = Michael Jan Friedman | published = 2003 | format = paperback | pages = 288 | ISBN = ISBN 0743448545 | date = 2333 }} Description :In 1893, a time-traveling Jean-Luc Picard encountered a long-lived alien named Guinan, who was posing as a Human to learn Earth's customs. During this "first encounter," Picard saved Guinan's life, a favor she would never forget. :Five centuries later, Captain Picard, now commander of the starship , brought Guinan aboard as the ship's "bartender." The hope was that her wisdom and inner peace would provide a moral grounding for Picard's crew as they experienced the dangers of space. :Because he hadn't yet made his trip through time, Picard had no knowledge of his nineteenth-century meeting with Guinan. :But he did remember a different first encounter with the mysterious El-Aurian — a tumultuous adventure in which Picard and Guinan would risk their lives in a maze of interplanetary intrigue, with the future of the known universe at stake. :This is the story of that fateful meeting, and of a Guinan very different from the woman we think we know — a person wracked by pain and longing, shaken to the roots of her soul. :A Guinan who yearns for oblivion. Synopsis Picard goes undercover as merchantman “Dixon Hill” on Oblivion, an unaligned space station cobbled together from myriad derelict spacecraft and located near Ubarrak and Cardassian space. His mission is to retrieve Nuadra Demmix, a Zartani individual with vital technical data on Ubarrak spacecraft. This intel would allow Starfleet to easily defeat the Ubarrak war fleet, thus allowing it to concentrate its defenses on the increasingly threatening Cardassian border. Demmix’s wife and daughters were killed by the Ubarrak and he since has dedicated his life to their defeat, though he refuses to meet anyone but his old friend, Jean-Luc Picard, forcing the captain to undertake this mission alone. On the station, Picard first meets a mysterious and strangely intuitive woman named Guinan. She, however, remembers meeting a future version of Picard in 1893, when the older Picard risked his own life and mission to save her. Unfortunately, this Guinan is still despondent following the loss of her homeworld to the Borg and having been painfully wrenched from the complete joy of the Nexus. She believes that Picard can again be her salvation. Meanwhile, the Stargazer crew awaits their captain’s return. Cole Paris walks into Jiterica, literally, while she is out of her containment suit. The encounter makes Paris rather awkward around his friend, though he ultimately decides to pursue a more romantic relationship with the Nizhrak, having enjoyed the intimacy he experienced when immersed within her true form. Nikolas is listless and despairing following his loss of the alternate Gerda Idun Asmund. He shirks his duties and gets into fights with Lt. Hanta while rejecting any of his shipmates’ efforts to improve his mood. Ulelo finds his loyalties divided between new friend Emily Bender and his mysterious benefactors, whom he has been secretly supplying with intelligence reports. Just as Picard is about to make his rendezvous with Demmix, their meeting place is bombed. Picard is fingered as the responsible party and is arrested by station security commander Steej, while Demmix flees. Guinan breaks Picard out of confinement and the pair alters their appearances to that of bald, purple Cataxxans. The pair tries to track down Demmix, though they are not alone in their pursuit. A Cardassian team, led by Enabran Tain, also hopes to find the Zartani and profit from his intelligence. They notice Picard and Guinan and follow them, expecting that they will lead them to their quarry. Similarly, Steej and his security staff search for the escaped Picard, his new companion, and later his target, Demmix. Both Steej and Tain eventually realize that Picard and Guinan have disguised themselves and expand their search to include a pair of Cataxxans. Steej’s men eventually find and arrest Guinan, and though Picard escapes, he is captured soon after by the Cardassians. Picard convinces Tain that he does not know Demmix’s location but that Guinan does, coercing the Cardassians to help him break Guinan out of confinement. As soon as Guinan is freed, she and Picard slip free of Tain’s men, and finally track down the Zartani informant. The reunion is short-lived, as the Cardassians confront and disarm Picard, Guinan and Demmix, though Guinan intuits that Demmix is lying about his information. The Zartani shakes one of the station’s component ships free from the rest of the structure and imprisons everyone else inside a force-field. He reveals that he has come to believe that his grief entitles him to some recompense, and that the Ubarrak have agreed to pay him handsomely for delivering a Starfleet captain into their waiting hands. Several well-informed Cardassians should supply him with a sizable bonus as well. Guinan destroys the compartment’s environmental systems, forcing Demmix to drop the force-field lest his bounty suffocate. Picard takes the opportunity to disarm his former friend and disable the vessel’s shields. Tain kills his subordinates in order to take all the credit for himself, then threatens to kill Picard, but the captain, Guinan, and Demmix are rescued by the Stargazer. Tain is left with a months-long journey back to Cardassian space, during which he intends to spin the failed mission in his favor. Picard decides not to prosecute Demmix under Federation law, instead opting to leave him on an unaligned planet where the Ubarrak may find him and exact their own punishment. Picard finds comfort from Demmix’s betrayal in a new friendship with Guinan. Summary References Characters :Ardin • Emily Bender • Gilaad Ben Zoma • Beylen • Braddock • Dahlen • Nuadra Demmix • Guinan • Hanta • Iulus • Jaiman • Jiterica • Karrid • Nol Kastiigan • Kochman • Kotsakos • Arlen McAteer • Olij Merant • Andreas Nikolas • Cole Paris • Pfeffer • Jean-Luc Picard/Dixon Hill • Pierzynski • Steej • Enabran Tain • Ioro Tajat • Dikembe Ulelo • Urajel • Vandermeer • Varitis • Yiropta • Levi Ben Zoma • Jevi • Patricia Paris Starships and vehicles :Ajanni freighter (freighter) • Anjottu freighter (freighter) • Chezzulid battle cruiser (battle cruiser) • Denobulan pleasure cruiser (cruiser) • Dranoon yacht (captain's yacht) • Enolian starship • Klingon starships • Jadaral grain ship (transport) • Lake-Dweller-That-Roars • ( cruiser) • Lurassin scout ship (scout) • Meskmaali fighter (fighter) • Orion starships • Orion slave ship • (Miranda-class) • Rigelian ore freighter • Rythrian cargo hauler • Sillerac cruiser • ( exploration cruiser) • Tyrheddan freighter • Ubarrak starships • • Yridian freighter ( explorer) Locations Shipboard areas ;USS Stargazer : bridge • corridor • observation lounge • quarters Station locations ; Obl'viaan : The Coastal Breezes • The Emperor's Eye • The Heavenly Meadow • The Northern Sky • The Singing Waters • Six Corners Plaza Stations and outposts :Obl'viaan • Ologomwi space station • Tellati armory Starbase 32 Planets and planetoids :Turion Prime Bejarus III • Romulus Stars and systems :Bejarus • Elyrion Stellar regions :unnamed sectors (Oblivion's sector) Races and cultures :Ajanni • Andorian • Anjottu • Bolian • Cardassian • Cataxxan • Chezzulid • Dedderac • Denobulan • Dranoon • El-Aurian • Enolian • Human • Jadaral • Kandilkari • Klingon • Lurassin • Mathenite • Meskmaali • Nausicaan • Nizhrak • Ologomwi • Orion • Phebracian • Pygorian • Rigelian • Rythrian • Sillerac • Tellarite • Tellati • Tyrheddan • Ubarrak • Vobilite • Yridian • Zartani • Zintekkan States and organizations :Cardassian Union • Federation • Starfleet Science and technology :alien • Andronesian encephalitis • duotronic relay • lifeform • medicine • Nexus • phase coil • space • space station • star • star system • starbase • starship • time • time-travel • universe Ranks and titles :administrator • admiral • captain • commander • commanding officer • engineer • ensign • glinn • hotel manager • lieutenant • science officer • security • transporter operator Other references :1893 • 19th century • 2328 • 2329 • 2331 • 2332 • 2333 • 24th century • Andorian spice bread • beverage • Cardassian history • city • feh'jennek • food • Geyanna extract • government • humanoid • Human culture • idaja • Kavarian tiger bat • nation-state • planet • rank • Regulan eel bird • Rigelian ring serpent • Rythrian tuber • science • targ • technology • title • volcanic spew • weapon Appendices Connections External link * category:books category:stargazer novels